100 Years of Knowle West Style

100 Years of Knowle West Style is a creative programme uncovering, understanding and telling the story of a community’s hidden heritage.

Having been based in the Knowle West community for over twenty years, we know that the area is full of stories and characters that can sometimes be overlooked by the wider city. We also know there’s plenty more to be uncovered…

From April to October 2019 we’ll be bringing local people, artists and archivists together to explore, share and celebrate Knowle West’s heritage, through a creative programme that will including making activities, events and performances.

When Knowle West was first conceived it was seen by many as the future of housing. Dubbed “the five thousand island forest” by the workers who built it, the estate is sited on a hill surrounded by wild green space, and comprises one hundred streets, five thousand homes, and twelve thousand people.

Nearly 100 years on, we want to know what Knowle Westers think is iconic, special and unique about their area – whether they’ve lived here all their lives or have recently made the community home.

What does it mean to make, build, dress, speak, or do things ‘Knowle West style’?

We’ll be focusing on three main themes:

Places: which buildings or public spaces have become iconic in the neighbourhood?

Spaces: how have home interiors, which were traditionally focused around the ‘Parlour Room’, been reinvented through decades of changing fashions and functions?

Style: from the first settlers displaced by slum clearance to newer neighbours, who and what are Knowle West’s distinctive style icons? From the well-known images – boxing, horses, trip-hop – to the things that are harder to see but are there if you know where to look…

Get Involved

If you’re interested in making, housing, history, getting creative, or sharing what’s special about your area with the world, we’d love to hear from you!

Contact Martha or Melissa on 0117 903 0444, or using their details on the right of this page.

Activities will begin in April 2019.

Wider Programme

“100 Years of Knowle West Style” forms part of “Homes for Heroes 100” – a collaborative programme of events and activities across Bristol that will mark the centenary of the 1919 Housing and Town Planning Act. The Act was known as The Addison Act, after the then Minister of Health and Housing Christopher Addison, and led to the building of large-scale council house estates in the UK.

As well as Knowle West, Homes For Heroes 100 will also work with communities in Sea Mills, Hillfields and St Judes to uncover and celebrate their local history.

Homes for Heroes 100 has been awarded funding from the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). The city-wide programme is coordinated by the Bristol Cultural Development Partnership, which has been responsible for a number of city-wide partnership programmes, including Bristol2014, which marked 100 years since the start of the First World War.